Daniel fitzgerald



UNITED sTATEs PATENT oEEIoE.

DANIEL FITZGERALD, THOMAS ROGERS, AND WILLIAM C. VALKER, OF NEW YORK, Y.

GUARD FOR FERRY-BOATS.

To all whom t may concern.'

Be it known that we, DANIEL FITZGERALD, THOMAS ROGERS, and WILLIAM O. WALKER, of New York, N. Y., have invented a new and useful apparatus for Saving the Lives of Ferry Passengers, called the Self-Act ing Ferry-Guard; and we hereby declare that the following is a full and exactrdescription thereof.

To enable others tomake and use our invention we proceed to describe its construction and operation, reference being had to the drawings hereunto annexed and making part of this specification.

The same letters refer to the same things in the drawings. l

Figure 1, plan of the bridge or dock; Fig. 2, ferry boat; Fig. 3, section showing the apparatus for removing the guard; Fig. 4, elevation of boat; Fig. 5, front elevation of bridge or dock showing the cat-head A against which the bo-at strikes at landing; Fig. 6, the long lever to raise or lower the guard.

A, the cat-head; B, the connecting rod; O, the long lever; D, the spring for raising the guard; E, the guard or fence; F, the short arm.

The nature of our invention consists in arranging a. fence at the dock, or. on the boat, to stand as a guard to prevent passen gers, in their attempt to jump on the boat after it hasstarted, falling into the water, and, when the boat has reached the landing to drop down entirely out of the way and give space to pass. To effect this purpose' the fence or guard is connected with a'lever or levers, to be acted on by the boat, on its arrival at the dock.

Projecting from the dock (or from the boat if the guard is placed on the; boat) is a beam or cat-heat-(or several of them if deemed necessary) projectinga foot, more or less. This cat-heat is part of a connectin rod (13,) reaching to the shorter arm of a ent lever (F) or elbow, which is placed beneath the bridge or dock. This elbow is hinged and made strong to resist concussion. The longer arm lies horizontal and extends toward the front of the landing and is there connected with the fence or guard. This longer arm may be branched, dividing it 12,094, dated December 1e, 1854.

into two or more parts to sustain equally the fence or there may be two or more elbows with connected apparatus. One elbow is enough, if well arranged, as there should be a certainty and a unity of the motion of the fence whether to rise or to fall. There should be a weight or a spring to make the guard rise and fall easily*-or at least to make it rise when the boat leaves. prefer a spring, as shown in the drawing (D). The spring is placed beneath the bridge and will force up the guard or fence and keep it up except when it is held down by the forcing in of the cat-heat projections at the head of the landing, so as soon as the boat leaves the spring acts to force the fence up.

The ferry guard may be made of wire or of more solid material. It would be suficient to make it of quarter inch wire, except themain supports and the top bar or rail. If weights are used, to raise the fence they may be placed beneath or suspended at the sides. II' the `guard is to be placed on the boat instead of the bridge the same arrangements would be made, the apparatus of elbow and spring &c being placed in the hull of the boat.

Instead of rising up from beneath the bridge, the guard may be a fence, hinged upon the back level of the bridge and made to lie down flat or imbedded in when the boat shall reach the landing. The action in that case would be by a compound lever acted upon by the connecting rod.

What we claim as our invention and de sire to secure by Letters Patent isl. The use of the cat head and connected apparatus to effect, at the arrival of the boat, the removal of the guard in the Inanner substantially as above described.

2. The removal of the guard by the action of the boat against the apparatus, substantially as above described.

3. The 'self closing of the passage by the withdrawal of the boat as above described.

DANIEL FITZGERALD. THOS'. ROGERS. i WILLIAM C. WALKER. Witnesses:

OWEN G. WARREN, NATHL. JARvIs, Jr, 

